Huntsville, AL

Over 40 Huntsville Hospital System healthcare providers participated in the UAH Lean Healthcare Academy in 2016. Participants in the course included personnel from Huntsville Hospital, Helen Keller Hospital (Sheffield, AL), Athens-Limestone Hospital (Athens, AL) and Decatur Morgan Hospital (Decatur, AL). The five-day course, which is provided by the UAH Lean Healthcare Program with trainers from the Office for Operational Excellence, is a combination of lecture and hands-on simulations covering topics such as introduction to lean concepts in healthcare, workplace organization, continuous flow, problem solving, root cause analysis, pull systems, quick changeover, value stream mapping and continuous improvement implementation. After attending the interactive training sessions, participants worked together on teams to identify improvement projects and then used the tools and concepts from the course to implement improvements. Team projects from the 2016 Spring and Fall groups included supply room ‘two-bin’ systems, modifying facility layout to improve flow, improving patient registration process, reducing time spent processing medical records, reducing patient time in ER, workplace standardization in sterile processing and improving equipment availability in hospital units.

Course attendees receive the equivalent of a Lean Healthcare Green Belt Certification and, upon the completion of the team projects, participants can obtain over 28 CEU or CME credits.

The Fall 2016 course, hosted by the UAH College of Nursing, was conducted on campus in the UAH Nursing Building. UAH Lean Healthcare Program has certified over 120 personnel at Huntsville Hospital through the UAH Lean Healthcare Academy.

What participants are saying:

Absolutely! Excellent class. Great mix of lecture, real-life examples, and hands-on simulations that keep the days flowing

Most week-long training classes are grueling, but these instructors made the week fun, hands-on, and useful

OOE Lean Six Sigma Black Belts, Green Belts and NIST Certified trainers have over 100 years combined lean experience in 100's of company engagements in manufacturing, business processes, supply chain and service industries including healthcare.

The Office for Operational Excellence certified trainers and practitioners assist organizations in their pursuit of excellence by providing training and support in strategic lean and six sigma deployment, facilitator and leadership development, value stream mapping and rapid improvement event facilitation and support.